So you find message boards nasty lately?

[blackdot]

The truth is that since the internet begun there has always been trolls and idiots, the problem is that with a constant new generation of people they know it's so a difficult to control

In the old days, you could easily look-up anyone that was only and pull up all of their personal info so trolls were very rare. Now days, everyone wants privacy and that leads to an abundance of trolls.

 

[LonelySutton]

In the old days, you could easily look-up anyone that was only and pull up all of their personal info so trolls were very rare. Now days, everyone wants privacy and that leads to an abundance of trolls.

It is not just trolls though, it is like the amateur detective... (alleging the poster isn't what he or she says she is) there is the contrarian (you know if the world ended tomorrow this conversation wouldn't matter anyway) there is the posts on your thread even though you don't have an answer (why are you asking the question) and a zillion other nasty behaviors that fall below troll. Sometimes I do find myself getting my jollys off by saying things I don't necessarily mean, but for the most part I feel like human beings have changed to a such an extent they can't even have a conversation.

In general people should really be careful what they put on the net, particularly where a large group of people reside.

Seconded. The only way the crazy troll didn't get anything on me was because I had carefully covered my trail but I subsequently learned she had traced someone's IP (which is easily obtained from an e-mail) and used that and a few other facts to get the person's real name.

 

[LonelySutton]

Oh had another one today... you post something... "the sky is blue" but you are followed around by someone who always has to argue with you "no no, the sky is azure". They just wait for you to post so they can jump all over you.

 

[bluefox]

I think there is a lot of nastiness on the Internet. There's a lot of people who seem rather geeky themselves with all the memes and stuff, and then they turn around and act nasty to whatever other groups they feel like - mostly other races, genders, people with disabilities, people like in that thread about beauty, people with differing viewpoints, animals, whatever. It's one reason I haven't really been into online gaming much, besides not having the technology. I remember I used to play Counter-Strike online, and people there were just so rude it made me mad and eventually I stopped playing. I was thinking, we're all gamers here, we've experienced rudeness from other groups. And now they are turning around and dishing it out to whoever they feel is inferior. No, I just like single player games really, or games with friends where I can feel like it's only friendly competition. I don't want to deal with all these smug, douchey adolescent trolls out there sitting pretty from behind a keyboard where no one can get at them for acting like that.

I used to play counter-strike on a friends server with mostly nice people. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until years later with COD: MW2. You're right, people are just really rude online and I don't get it. It got to a point (with Team Fortress 2 also) where I would automatically mute everyone and just put on some music. Made the round interesting when you couldn't hear anything but i'm pretty accurate so it wasn't a huge problem. I think that's why lately i've been playing more single player games too. I kind of miss 2004 when no one had the internet except a few nice people. :/

 

[9006]

In the old days, you could easily look-up anyone that was only and pull up all of their personal info so trolls were very rare. Now days, everyone wants privacy and that leads to an abundance of trolls.

I see what you're saying; I also believe that there was more legitimate people/accounts 'back in the day', but like I said nowadays [as usual] there's always people who try to exploit things like the anonymity of the internet.

 

[Oldyoung]

Anonymity does not lead to trolling. Poorly run communities do.

Reddit is a good example of that. Toxic and helpful communities both, all on the same platform/website.

 

[Serephina]

Yes,especially when people tend to go on a site for help and they have just managed to open up about a problem and you just see people posting quite cruel comments and I just feel there is no need for it. There is a difference between constructive criticism and just being plain nasty.

 

[Gemmy]

Wow, I thought I was the only person that felt like this. I'm mainly a member on pet related forums but there's always some really rude and snarky people on there that criticize for almost every little thing. I love animals and pet forums were my peaceful place for me on the internet. Sadly, I stay away from them altogether now. As a matter of fact, I try to avoid message boards to the best of my ability unless they're related to my depression and anxiety issues.

 

[Cucuboth]

I think there is a lot of nastiness on the Internet. There's a lot of people who seem rather geeky themselves with all the memes and stuff, and then they turn around and act nasty to whatever other groups they feel like - mostly other races, genders, people with disabilities, people like in that thread about beauty, people with differing viewpoints, animals, whatever. It's one reason I haven't really been into online gaming much, besides not having the technology. I remember I used to play Counter-Strike online, and people there were just so rude it made me mad and eventually I stopped playing. I was thinking, we're all gamers here, we've experienced rudeness from other groups. And now they are turning around and dishing it out to whoever they feel is inferior. No, I just like single player games really, or games with friends where I can feel like it's only friendly competition. I don't want to deal with all these smug, douchey adolescent trolls out there sitting pretty from behind a keyboard where no one can get at them for acting like that.

I used to play counter-strike on a friends server with mostly nice people. I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until years later with COD: MW2. You're right, people are just really rude online and I don't get it. It got to a point (with Team Fortress 2 also) where I would automatically mute everyone and just put on some music. Made the round interesting when you couldn't hear anything but i'm pretty accurate so it wasn't a huge problem. I think that's why lately i've been playing more single player games too. I kind of miss 2004 when no one had the internet except a few nice people. :/

I remember playing MW and MW2 as well. Back then, a lot of the banter seemed to be light-hearted and actually quite funny. Now it just seems that everyone takes it all so seriously. And there are so many threats. You get threats yelled at you if you kill someone in the game. You get threats yelled at you if you win. You get threats if you loose, or you're a 'noob', ect ect ect. It just isn't as fun as it used to be ... not that I had anyone to talk to online then either. I would just listen ... sometimes that payed off, since I would be largely forgotten about and could kinda sneak around

 

[edamame721]

There's this one person on another forum I go to who I personally think is an ass. I gave him the benefit of a doubt for a long time, but his "humor" is offensive and he continually rubs me the wrong way. After another recent clash, I try not to engage with him anymore.

 

[Despicable Me]

I'm not sure what internets you people have been on, but I've always met lots of trolls online since the 90's.
There's definitely a bigger subculture of trolls now, but that is mostly just due to the fact that the population on the internet itself is larger. The number of trolls just seems to have grown in proportion to that.

As for the difference online and off, it is most certainly due to anonymity of the internet. You really can't get away with being a jerk much offline. You'll get punched or slapped or beaten for the sort of things some people say online. Or at least yelled at. Online people feel "safe" from all of that, often because they are able to get away with it for so long, even though they aren't really safe from everyone. It's mostly due to stupidity. If they happen to troll the wrong person, like a hacker, that person could destroy their entire life. It has happened before. Or if they troll in the wrong way, the FBI has indeed sent out people to stop that and even pressed charges against some rather young people. No one is an exception to those rules. Tell people you're going to bomb them and you can rather expect the FBI to physically come through your door and arrest you. Often with a swat team, which is, I imagine from what I've read, a very scary experience.

 

[boonieghoul]

I haven't found a single place on the 'net that doesn't have hurtful, mean-spirited people lurking in wait like serial killers at a rock concert. This is the first forum I've decided to trust since the early 2000s. No wonder lonely people are lonely; it's as if our isolation and sadness is like chum in a shark tank.

 

[Village_Idiot]

Since using the net I've realised that people are generally hard as nails. They've always been like this of course but it's got worse. I guess that's why people need drugs alcohol prescribed drugs and other things, to cope with how brutal and pitiless life has got.

They somehow seem proud of how much they can take and how hard nosed they are. I suppose if survival of the fittest has been good to you it's hard not to feel smug.

 

[lonelyfairy]

People have always been mean but since we live in this modern technological time, those nasty things from real life have now transferred to online world too. Everyone of us have feelings and are real people with real lives but sometimes it can be easy to forget that if all you see is the computer screen front of you. It's not an excuse to behave badly towards others though and to not respect one another. All these apps, gadgets and stuff make social connectivity more shallow, faster and somehow hollow than ever before and it can affect to the person's behavior also in a way which is not always in the most kindest way either.